Will Vaus

Three days ago I posted my remembrance of Walter Hooper, C. S. Lewis' secretary in the last year of his life and later editor of many of Lewis' works. Walter passed away on December 7, 2020, as a result of complications from Covid-19. He was 89 years old. My last meeting with Walter took place during a C. S. Lewis tour I led, along with Russ Head, in 2016. Walter met with our group at the Kilns, Lewis' former home outside of Oxford. Thankfully, Rev. David Beckmann, who was then working for the C. S. Lewis Foundation as the warden of the Kilns, filmed our conversation with Walter. So I thought I would share that below...

Our first stop in Oxford was for lunch at the Eagle & Child pub where the Inklings met on Tuesday mornings for many years. From there we made our way to Magdalen College where we stood outside Lewis' rooms and read about his conversion to theism from Surprised by Joy . We also went for a stroll around Addison's Walk and read Lewis' letter to Arthur Greeves where he described his return to Christian faith under the influence of his friends, Tolkien and Dyson. After our time at Magdalen, we checked into the Eastgate Hotel (pictured below). Our home away from home for our two days in Oxford.  The Eastgate often served as a meeting location for C. S. Lewis with various friends, including Joy Davidman. The reason for this is because the Eastgate is conveniently located across the street from Magdalen whose 500 year old tower is pictured below. On Sunday morning we went to worship at Holy Trinity Church, Headington Quarry, where C. S. Lewis

One of my favorite C. S. Lewis books is entitled, Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer . And now I hear that my friend, Anglican priest, David Beckmann, is planning to film an 8 part video series on this topic, in Oxford, England no less! I would encourage you to learn more about and support his project here:  C. S. Lewis on Prayer from Oxford . I think it will be a great service to those of us who would like to learn more about C. S. Lewis and Prayer.

When I first visited C. S. Lewis' former home, The Kilns, in 1982, it was owned by the Thirsks. I never knew anything about this family until reading Joan Thirsk's obituary today in a back issue of Oxford Today.... Joan Thirsk 19 June 1922–3 October 2013 (Irene) Joan Thirsk (née Watkins) CBE, FBA, Reader in Economic History and Professorial Fellow of St Hilda’s College, Oxford, from 1965 to 1983, died on 3 October 2013 aged 91. Born in London, she was educated at Camden School for Girls and Westfield College, London, but her undergraduate education was interrupted by war service at Bletchley Park. Returning to Westfield College, she graduated in History then completed a PhD on English agrarian history. For 14 years she was a research fellow at the University of Leicester before moving to Oxford. She wrote on all aspects of English agricultural and rural history and was general editor of the Agrarian History of England and Wales. She was elected an FBA in 1974 and made

Our visit to London and Oxford was capped off yesterday with tea at the Kilns, C. S. Lewis' former home, now owned and operated as a study centre by the C. S. Lewis Foundation. In the photo above, my son Josh and I are sitting in the common room with Lewis' step-son, Douglas Gresham. It was a pleasure to see Doug again, as well as other friends from around the world, and to spend time with Metropolitan Kallistos Ware, a leader of the Orthodox Church in England, and Aidan Mackey, the world renowned G. K. Chesterton scholar. Thanks to Debbie Higgens for the invitation to partake of her delicious tea and to our friend Chris Jenkins for driving us from Watford to Oxford and back.

The day began with the sunlight streaming through my window. That is ... the window of C. S. Lewis' bedroom. I spent the morning reading Alister McGrath's new biography of C. S. Lewis. About mid-day I went out for a walk by the pond in which Lewis liked to swim. It was a bit cold for that today. The colors of the leaves on Shotover Hill were quite stunning today, but my camera hardly did them justice. The tree behind the Kilns was particularly pretty today with the sunlight glowing through the leaves. Evensong in Magdalen College Chapel was quite moving. I think the piercing sweetness of the choir boys in song will stay with me for a long time. Afterwards, I enjoyed dinner and a late night coffee with Austin from Southern California and Christine from New Zealand. That's Oxford for you: an embarrassment of riches.

I began the day by walking past the Headington Shark on my way into Oxford. Once in town I made my way up the tower of The University Church of St. Mary the Virgin and enjoyed this lovely view of the High Street. I have tried to do some things on this trip that I have never done before, like using my Bodleian Reader's Card to see the inside of the Radcliffe Camera. Sorry I don't have any photos for you of the inside. That is rather frowned upon I think. However, I did make my way through the underground Gladstone Link (seeing the Bodleian copy of my book "Mere Theology" along the way). Traversing the underground link I "arose from the grave" into the Old Bodleian and saw parts of that I had not seen before. Beautiful! Here's a photo of the outside of the Old Bodleian.... Continuing my photographic journey across central Oxford we come to a place quite familiar to viewers of Inspector Morse and Lewis.... Not far from the Thames Valle

My day began with breakfast in the dining room of The Kilns with the sunlight streaming through the windows. I then walked into Central Oxford as C. S. Lewis did many times. As I saw a bus going up Headington Hill, I could not help but think of these lines from Surprised by Joy about a double-decker bus.... "I was going up Headington Hill on the top of a bus. Without words and (I think) almost without images, a fact about myself was somehow presented to me. I became aware that I was holding something at bay, or shutting something out. Or, if you like, that I was wearing some stiff clothing, like corsets, or even a suit of armour, as if I were a lobster. I felt myself being, there and then, given a free choice. I could open the door or keep it shut; I could unbuckle the armour or keep it on. Neither choice was presented as a duty; no threat or promise was attached to either, though I knew that to open the door or take off the corslet meant the incalculable. The choice appe

  On Day One of my trip to Oxford, England I received my key to the kingdom .... That is, C. S. Lewis' former home, the Kilns, where I am staying for the next five nights. Here is the view from my bedroom, which happens to be the room where Lewis died on November 22, 1963. I wonder, will I see and hear his ghost tonight in a dream?  And here's the kitchen, where I had a cup of tea this afternoon whilst conversing with friends on Facebook. I also obtained my Bodleian Reader's Card today to do some research while I am residing in the city of dreaming spires. I went for a hike up Shotover Hill today just as Lewis often did. And had dinner in the same place where Oliver Cromwell once sat, the Victoria Arms Pub in Marston.... With my friend Jason Lepojarvi, the new president of the Oxford C. S. Lewis Society. All in all, it was quite a day!